Texas Bluegrass History: High Lonesome on the High Plains in September

The History Press, a division of Arcadia Publishing, has announced a release date of September 20 for Texas Bluegrass History: High Lonesome on the High Plains, by Jeff Campbell and Braeden Paul. 

Both authors have personal knowledge and interest in the subject. Paul is a bluegrass mandolinist with experience in artist representation who writes for the Bluegrass Society of America on Facebook, while Campbell is a Professional Historic Preservationist and author of previous works on the history of the Lone Star State. Both live in the Dallas/Ft Worth area and have collaborated on this look into how bluegrass music grew in Texas, and how it developed a number of important figures and institutions in our music.

Texas may not be the first region that comes to mind when you think of bluegrass history, but Braeden tells us that there are many things important to a chronicling of how the music developed and is maintained in the US.

“The state of Texas has nurtured a thriving bluegrass scene dating back to the early 1950s, one that Jeff and I both felt was important to document. While we do discuss known names in bluegrass such as the Mayfield Brothers, Tex Logan, and Wood & Wire, among others, we also devote a lot of the book to those who were primarily based in Texas such as the Shady Grove Ramblers, Holly Bond, and Johnnie Martin. We also talk a lot about the importance of the Bluegrass and Country music program at South Plains College in Levelland, and other Texas-based organizations such as the Southwest Bluegrass Club and the Central Texas Bluegrass Association.”

Pre-orders have not yet been enabled on The History Press web site, but you can order a copy of the paperback edition at Amazon for $21.99. History Press have published a number of other books about the regional history of bluegrass music which should be of interest to our readers as well.

We will talk with the authors in more detail about Texas Bluegrass History closer to the publication date.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.